Here are the results of a Survey carried out with the support of Practice Index, www.practiceindex.co.uk.

The pretext of the Survey was to assess whether GP Practices were ‘open all hours’ and to what degree. The outcome of the Survey suggests that the vast majority of Practices provide an excellent level of service between 8.00am and 6.30pm each week day. Practices clearly use many different ways of providing services, including appointments reminders, access to prescriptions, appointments and records online, and extended hours either at their own surgery

With the support of Practice Index, www.practiceindex.co.uk, Robert Campbell out a Survey of over 330 GP Practices to assess to what extent GP Practices in the UK were ‘Open All Hours’.

ANALYSIS OF RESPONDENTS

This Section shows the breakdown of Participants in the Survey.

Respondents by Regional Location

By Location	Responses	Percentage
Home Counties	70	21
South West	55	17
Midlands	30	9
East Midlands	31	9
East Anglia	26	8
Yorkshire	36	11
North East	13	4
North West	35	11
Scotland	19	6
Wales	9	3
Northern Ireland	7	2
Totals	331	100

Note – 2 respondents did not declare their location.

Respondents by Country

By Country	Total	%
England	296	89
Scotland	19	6
Wales	9	3
Northern Ireland	7	2
Not Declared	2	1
Totals	333	100

 

Respondents by Type of Geographical Location

Locality	Number	Population	%
Rural	48	299078	14.45
Semi-Rural	100	860294	30.12
Urban	184	1695661	55.42
Totals	332	2855033	100
Note – 3 Practices indicated they were University practices

Respondents by English County

English County	Number	English County	Number
Bedfordshire	3	Leicestershire	2
Berkshire	6	Lincolnshire	12
Bristol	1	Merseyside	6
Buckinghamshire	4	Norfolk	4
Cambridgeshire	6	North Yorkshire	10
Cheshire	7	Northamptonshire	5
Cornwall	10	Nottinghamshire	7
County Durham	4	Oxfordshire	2
Cumbria	5	Shropshire	3
Derbyshire	5	Somerset	8
Devon	10	South Yorkshire	9
Dorset	5	Staffordshire	4
East Sussex	1	Suffolk	1
East Yorkshire	4	Surrey	7
Essex	10	Tyne and Wear	9
Gloucestershire	6	Warwickshire	8
Greater London	27	West Midlands	13
Greater Manchester	8	West Sussex	7
Hampshire	13	West Yorkshire	13
Herefordshire	1	Wiltshire	1
Hertfordshire	5	Worcestershire	1
Isle of Wight	1
Kent	13
Lancashire	9
		Totals	296

 

LUNCHTIME CLOSURES

This Section deals with the Results of the Survey and starts by looking at Lunchtime Closures

Lunchtimes	Number	%
Open All ‘Core’ Hours	269	80.8
Closed All Lunchtimes	42	12.6
Closed One Lunchtime	17	5.1
No Response	5	1.5
Totals	333	100

 

This response on Lunchtimes suggested that almost 81% of GP Practices are ‘Open All Hours’.

HALF DAY CLOSING

The next Section looks at the incidence of half day closing, whether it is every weekday, once a week or once a month for training purposes.

Half Day Closing	Number	%
Open All ‘Core’ hours	244	73.3
Closed Once a Week	47	14.1
Closed Once a Month	37	11.1
No Response	5	1.5
Totals	333	100.0

 

This Section on Half Day Closing suggests that around 73% of GP Practices are ‘Open All hours’.

USE OF ‘111’ TELEPHONE SERVICE

This Section looks at the number of Practices using ‘111’ as a contact point for patient’s when the surgery is closed.

Use of ‘111’ for Out of Hours Services	Number	%
Practices using ‘111’	280	84
Practices not using ‘111’	53	16
Total	333	100

 

It should also be noted that 231 Practices (69%) still make reference to NHS Direct on their web sites or in practice leaflets. There are, however, different arrangements in Scotland and Wales.

ONLINE ACCESS

The next Section looks at the use of Online Services for Patients

Use of Online Services	Numbers	%		Type of Online Services	Numbers	%
Online Services Used	319	96		Prescriptions	317	99
Online Services not Used	14	4		Appointments	309	97
				Medical Records	261	82
Total	333	100

 

The Section indicates that only 4% of GP Practices do not use online services for patients to order repeat prescriptions, book appointments online and view their medical records online.

 

EMAIL AVAILABILTY AND APPOINTMENT TEXT REMINDERS

This next section looks at the prevalence of the use of publicly known Practice or Practice Managers email addresses and the use of text reminders to patients for appointments.

Use of Practice Email Address	Numbers	%		Use of Text Reminders	Numbers	%
Practice with email address	226	68		Text Reminders	281	84
No email address	107	32		No Text Reminders	52	16
Totals	333	100		Total	333	100

 

Whilst GP Practices now provide Practice Web Site, still 32% do not offer an email address as a contact point for patients. However, an extensive 84% of Practices used text reminders to mobile phones for appointments.

CORE HOURS

The next Section looks at the compliance with ‘Core Hours’, although there is no legal requirement for surgery premises to be physically open during the ‘core hours’, evidence suggests that some surgery premises are not open until 8.30am and close their doors at 6.00pm. There is no suggestion that these Practices are not available by telephone or via ‘111’.

Responses were only requested in relation to the period 6.00pm until 6.30pm.

Surgeries Open Until 6.30pm	Total	Open	%	Not Open	%
England	296	234	79	62	21
Scotland	19	2	11	17	89
Wales	9	9	100	0	0
Northern Ireland	7	1	14	6	86
Not Stated	2	2	100	0	0
Totals	333	248	74	85	26

 

The response to the Question about remaining physically open until 6.30pm suggests that almost three quarters of the Practices that responded to the survey can stake a claim to being ‘Open All Hours’

 

 

 

 

 

EXTENDED HOURS AT OWN SURGERY

This Section looks at the prevalence of the use of Extended Hours, which might be provided either before 8.00am and after 6.30pm on weekdays and during the weekend at the Practices own surgery.

Analysis of Extended Hours Provision

Main Surgery	All	England	N Ireland	Wales	Scotland	Totals
All	333	298	7	7	19	331
Extended Hours	227	210	2	0	15	227
No Extended Hours	106	88	5	7	4	104
Percentages	All	England	N Ireland	Wales	Scotland	Totals
Extended Hours	68.17	70.47	28.57	0.00	78.95	68.58
No Extended Hours	31.83	29.53	71.43	100.00	21.05	31.42

 

Almost 70% of GP Practices on average provide Extended Hours Services which on the face of it is ‘beyond the call of duty’ and confirms that a large majority of Practices are ‘Open All Hours’

Services Provided at Another Surgery

The Analysis below shows the extent to which Practices offer extended hours services at a surgery operated by another practice.

Country	Another Surgery	All	%
Scotland	4	19	21.05
England	77	296	26.01
ALL	81	315	25.71

 

In Summary, the extent to which main surgery premises are OPEN ALL HOURS is shown below:

1. Lunchtimes – 81%
2. Half Day Closing – 74%
3. Use of ‘111’ – 84%
4. Online Access – 96%
5. Email Address – 68%
6. Text Reminders – 84%
7. Core Hours – 74%
8. Extended Hours – 68%

Robert Campbell – June 2017

 

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